On 15 April 2017, a car bomb detonated near a convoy of buses in the al-Rashideen neighbourhood of western Aleppo, Syria.[2] The buses carried civilian evacuees from the besieged government-controlled towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya and were guarded by rebel fighters.[3] The bombing killed at least 126 people[4] including at least 80 children.[5]

Bombing

The attack took place in the Rashideen district, in the western outskirts of the city of Aleppo, at about 15:30 local time.[9] According to some journalists, the bomb was in a car that parked and began distributing crisps to attract children.[10][11] This car was near the front of a convoy of buses that were stopped at a checkpoint to move injured refugees.[9][12] An investigation by Bellingcat disputed that it was an aid vehicle, but instead a third-generation Hyundai Porter Super Cab, bearing a "W77" label and a yellow-green-red color scheme, of indeterminate affiliation.[10]

Early reports indicated that a few dozen people had been killed,[13] but the confirmed death toll rose to 126 by the following day, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.[9] The Observatory said that 109 of the dead were refugees, including 68 children, with the remainder rebel fighters and aid workers,[9] though a spokesman for the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group said that about 30 of its members were killed.[14] According to the White Helmets civil defense group, 55 people were injured.[15]

The bombing led to the suspension of evacuations for several days; they resumed on 19 April with tight security at the Rashideen checkpoint.[16] Three days after the bombing, a United Nations spokesperson said that the bombing was "likely a war crime" and a person of interest seen in footage prior to the bombing is being investigated.[17]